Taiwan February Oil Imports Fall After Refiner Halts Plant

March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan, which imports more than 99
percent of its crude oil needs, purchased less of the fuel in
February after a refiner halted a unit for inspections.

Shipments declined 8.1 percent from a year earlier to 23.99
million barrels last month, the Ministry of Finance said in
Taipei today. The island’s February oil bill climbed 11 percent
to $2.77 billion, the ministry said in a statement.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp., the smaller of Taiwan’s two
refiners, said on March 3 that oil processing declined in
February because of a planned stoppage at a distillation unit.
State-run CPC Corp. is the company’s bigger competitor.